I Went to Whole Foods.........

This weekend I was in the Chicagoland area, and while there, visited a Whole Foods.

For those of you who are like me and don't have a Whole Foods in your neighborhood, come along for a peek inside.......click on the pictures to view larger

I was immediately impressed with how Beautifully everything was displayed.......

Fresh Veggies......

Fresh Flowers......

a nice variety of Seafood...........

loved the color of these Wild Greenshell Mussels........

a seemingly endless variety of Cheeses............

I was intriqued with the layered one, some kind of yellow cheese filled with a bleu cheese......

Huge wheels............

Wine..........

My husband has a love of olives.......he spent a long time here tasting the olives and cheeses and came home with several varieties that were new to us....

I, on the other hand, go more for the sweeter stuff.......

Breads and Pastries.............

there were Muffins, scones........

Danish............

apple cinnamon.....cream cheese..... cherry.........

but this woman does not live by bread alone...........

they've got me covered..........

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there are cream puffs.............

chocolate covered strawberries..........

small fruit tarts..........

and large fruit tarts..........

Fancy Cakes.........

Cupcakes..........

I feel the need for a Desserts Tea Party..........



or two...........or three...........

So glad you could join me.

I Embellished Another Bottle.......

I had so much fun embellishing the bottle in my previous post

and received some nice comments

so I'm at it again.

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She's wrapped in lots of pretty lace....

Her lid is fashioned into a pin cushion

accented with a single fabric rose.....

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a loop of vintage faux pearls.....

and an earring adds a little sparkle.

Since this is a large jar (most likely held mayonnaise)

it is useful as well as decorative

and can hold all sorts of things

from buttons, trims, bobbins........

......to shells, or any number of things.

You decide.

I've listed her in my Etsy Shop.

LOVE IT ???....... GET IT HERE

Vintage Lace & Findings Decorated Bottle

I've been drooling over those decorated bottles I've seen around and have been itching to give it a try. I was able to find alot of laces, vintage earrings, buttons, etc. at a resale shop and decided to repurpose/upcyle a diffuser bottle I had saved because I liked its shape.

Barbara Jean over at Treasures from the Heart makes tiny little roses from used tea bags. See her tutorial here .( I've recently been drinking chinese oolong tea as I read somewhere that it helps with weight loss and I would be more comfortable in summer clothing if I lost a bit of weight.) So using my tea bags, I made Barbara's little roses and brushed on the teensiest bit of a glitter paint/glue I had in my art supplies, just to give a hint of sparkle.

In addition to the tea bag roses I also made a little gold rose by rolling up some gold crochet thread I picked up at the resale shop. Attached a little tassle, again made from the crochet thread, and a piece from a dangling rhinestone earring.

Here is the finished product.

I want to get a cork to use as a stopper for the bottle and glue on this large silver colored vintage earring, or maybe it was a shoe clip, not sure. Anyway I love the way it finishes off the top, it gives the feel of real antique repousee silver.

More closeups....

I've Just Received an Award!

Wow, I must say I didn't see that coming; I'm SOooo surprised and flattered!

Thank you Karen, for the compliment of being awarded the "Stylish Blogger Award". Visit Karen, the "Idea Girl" at Karen's Ideas Galore when you click here-- http://rko-ideas-galore.blogspot.com/ .

This is going to be a bit of a challenge.....I must share 7 things about myself? I was sure I'd already bored you all enough with my lengthy About Me profile.

1. Well..... I do have a tendency to procrastinate, so this may take a few days,.... HaHa.

2. I love fresh cut flowers and dream of having a beautiful blooming garden,......but, eventhough working in the garden is very enjoyable and thereapeutic...........

3. I've never really been a sunworshiper. When the heat and humidity of the mid-west soar and things get sticky and sweaty, I head for the AC.

4. I just can't imagine Christmas without a little snow, but there again, I'm just not into extreme temperatures and you won't find me out on the slopes or cruising along in a snowmobile. Building a snowman with my kids when they were young is more like it, then quickly back inside for some hot chocolate! Check out this Snow Horse we made one year.........

5. And water sports/boating.......now that really freaks me out!!! I never learned to swim and, although my mother has no recollection of it, I'm certain I almost drowned in the bathtub once when I was a child; maybe that explains my water phobia.

6. Since I've begun blogging it's not often that I'm without my camera, a gift from my family on my last birthday; my kids tell me I'm obsessed with taking photos.

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7. My husband and I both enjoy cooking. We're always trying to analyze foods we enjoy eating at restaurants and then experiment to see if we can make them at home. Practice makes perfect as they say. The Olive Garden's Chicken Vino Bianco was a family favorite. When the menu item was discontinued, my husband was able to master it and now we enjoy it at home whenever the mood strikes. My husband's favorite dessert at Olive Garden was the Lemon Creme Cake. This was our biggest challenge but after several attempts that were "good", but just not "It", I can now confidently say that I Have Perfected It! And in fact, my daughter visited Olive Garden one evening and called home to see if she should get a cake "to go" to bring home with her. Remembering the lone piece in the freezer at the time, I told her to get just 1 piece and we'd have a blind taste test. The votes revealed either no real difference or they liked mine slightly better! Yay!!

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So there you have it........a bit more trivia in the life of BettyJean.

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Now it's my pleasure to have chosen those listed below as the next recipients of the prestigous Stylish Blogger Award. Some are very new to blogging and some have been around a little while but are still relatively unknown as I have chosen to award those with fewer than 200 followers. Won't you please click to visit as many as possible and leave an encouraging comment before continuing on to the next blog.

AND THE.................

GOES TO...............

1. Hayley, a blogger located in the UK at Hayley Makes It. Check out her fab shoe designs http://hayleymakesit.blogspot.com/2011/02/small-selection-of-my-shoe-designs.html

2. Robin at Once Upon a Pink Moon http://onceuponapinkmoon.blogspot.com/ .

3. Vee at Thistle Creek Cottage http://thistlecreekcottage.blogspot.com/ at her lovely quilting/sewing related blog.

4. Cleo at Designs by Cleo http://designsbycleo.blogspot.com/ . See her sweet Easter Nut Cups.

5. Cierra at Cierras Tattered Elegance http://cierrastatteredelegance.blogspot.com/ shows us her shabby style.

6. Queenie's Vintage Finds and Treasures http://queeniesvintagefindsandtreasures.blogspot.com/

7. Patty at A Few Pennies http://pattyh09.blogspot.com/

8. Lynn at Antiques for Today's Lifestyle http://antiquesfortodayslifestyle.blogspot.com/ . See how she decorates with her vintage finds.

9. Suzan at A Mare of a Different Color http://amareofadifferentcolor.blogspot.com/ You won't want to miss her lovely glass charm necklaces!

10.Loree at Country Lane Cottage http://countrylanecottage.blogspot.com/

11. Connie at Cabin Fever Primitives http://cabinfeverprimitives.blogspot.com/

12. Pam at White Ironstone Cottage http://www.whiteironstonecottage.blogspot.com/ . Pam has a love of white ironstone. Join her in her travels to find more pieces for her collection or to sell in her soon to open store.

13. Sunny Simple Life--Take a tour of her 50s style kitchen with pretty red accents! http://sunnysimplelife.blogspot.com/2011/02/tour-of-my-fifties-kitchen.html

14. A Shabby Moment in Time http://ashabbymomentintime.blogspot.com/ . Mmmm I love shabby eye candy.

15. Shelly at Romantic Mossy Rose http://romanticmossyrose.blogspot.com/ . Shelly is a new blogger so won't you please stop by and welcome her to blogland!

Congratulations to you all and keep up the good work!

Rules for accepting the award are as follows:

1. Thank and link back to the person (or people) who awarded you this award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers.

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award.